New Zealander Hillary and his Nepali guide Tenzing made itto the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) summit of the world's highestmountain on May 29, 1953 as part of a British expedition, whichput Nepal on the map as a destination for adventure tourism.

A government panel has recommended that two unnamedmountains be called Hillary Peak and Tenzing Peak, said AngTshering Sherpa, a former president of the Nepal MountaineeringAssociation.

"This is to honour their contribution to mountaineering inNepal," Sherpa, who headed the panel, told Reuters.

The two peaks - Hillary's at 7,681 m (25,200 ft) andTenzing's at 7,916 m (25,971 ft) - have never been climbed andare expected to be opened to foreigners in the spring seasonthat starts in March, he said.

Officials hope the peaks will attract more climbers and helpboost tourism in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highestmountains. Tourism now accounts for about 4 percent of thecountry's economy and employs thousands of people.

Hillary died in 2008 at age 88 and Tenzing died in 1986 atage 72. Climbers in their time lacked the specialised equipment taken for granted today and the heavy oxygen tanks the two mencarried made mountaineering more challenging than it is now.

About 4,000 climbers have made it to the summit of Everest since 1953, among them an 80-year-old Japanese man, an Americanteenager and a blind person. Two Nepali sherpas have reached thetop a record 21 times each.

But harsh weather, avalanches and treacherous terrain areconstant dangers. More than 240 climbers have died on both sidesof Everest, which can also be scaled from China.

A small airport Hillary built in the 1960s at Lukla, thegateway to Everest, has already been named after him andTenzing. The remote airstrip clings to a hillside, several days'walk from the base camp, and is described by mountaineers as athrilling kick-off to an attempt on the mountain's south face.

Besides conservation work, Hillary helped build schools,hospitals, water supply schemes and trails in the Everest regionthat is home to the ethnic sherpas without whose help climberswould find it difficult to make it to the top.

Two peaks in west Nepal could be named after famed Frenchclimbers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, said Sherpa. In1950, Herzog and Lachenal became the first to reach the summitof an 8,000-m (26,246-ft) peak - Mount Annapurna.

About 165 peaks of up to 7,999 m (26,245 ft) are likely tobe opened to climbers from next year, Sherpa said.

Just 326 of the more than 1,300 peaks in Nepal are now opento foreign climbers. The fees they pay are a major source ofincome for the cash-strapped government.